Study: Holiday e-commerce transactions beat expectations

New data indicates that the volume of e-commerce transactions during the 2022 holiday season substantially rose from the prior year.

According to analysis from digital payment solutions provider ACI Worldwide, from October through December 2022, e-commerce transactions saw a 21% increase from the same period in 2021, beating estimates by 6%.

Cyber Weekend stats

Looking specifically at Cyber Weekend (Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday), ACI data indicates the gaming sector experienced a leading 153% year-over-year increase in transaction value, and the travel sector experienced a 57% year-over-year increase.

Meanwhile, the retail sector experienced a 4% increase in year-over-year e-commerce volume over Cyber Weekend, driven by general retail, which saw a 14% increase, and sports and athletic sales, which experienced a 13% increase in transaction volume.

In addition, mobile devices saw 17% increase in transaction volume throughout the course of Cyber Weekend, with 36% of all transactions processed via mobile devices during Black Friday. Transaction volumes over smartphone devices soared by 43% on Cyber Monday in comparison to the same day in 2021.

Buy-now-pay-later payments rose by 87% year-over-year on Black Friday, with ATV increasing by 42%, or $57.

Other interesting findings include:

• Transaction values for buy-online-pick-up-in-store (BOPIS) purchases increased by 18%, with the average ticket value (ATV) increasing by 26%, or $26.
• For high-value products, credit and debit cards were the top choice. Transactions for credit and debit cards experienced an 8% increase, with the average transactions value (ATV) climbing by 43%, or $49. E-wallets saw a comparable increase in transaction volumes, rising by 32% year-over-year.
• Fraud attempts decreased by 0.5% year-over-year during the 2022 holiday shopping season. Mobile fraud attempts saw a decline of 0.6%, and e-wallets saw fraud attempts declining by 0.8%.
• Transaction values for BOPIS increased by 18% year-over-year, with the average ticket value (ATV) increasing by 26%, or $26.

“Consumers upped their spending this holiday season despite increasing economic pressures,” said Basant Singh, head of merchant segment, ACI Worldwide. “While inflation accounted for much of the year-over-year rise in holiday spending, our data shows a steady uptick in transactions, with many consumers buying goods and services via mobile devices, and in many cases using digital wallets as a preferred payment method. We expect to see these trends continue in 2023.”

Salesforce: Cyber Week online spending jumps 9% to $68 billion

According to Salesforce data, online sales across Cyber Week rose 9% year-over-year to $68 billion in the U.S. and 2% YoY to $281 billion globally, breaking previous records for the five-day period. Salesforce found that 76% of Cyber Week e-commerce traffic came through mobile devices, and that BOPIS usage grew 9% globally Thursday through Sunday of Cyber Week compared to the first three weeks of November. There was also a 5% YoY increase in U.S. BNPL orders during Cyber Week